The O.C.: The owls are not what they seem

Spoilers for "The O.C." just as soon as I figure out which surgical intern helped Dr. Roberts with the unicorn...

I'm a few days late to the party and I have other writing to get done, so I'll be brief. A very light, funny episode that ended on sad notes for virtually every character. (Sandy seems happy, I suppose, but then, the only thing he got to do was his hilarious, out-of-left-field and very loud Jerry Lewis impression.)

Though the cancellation wasn't made official until last week, this one suggests Josh saw the writing on the wall. It's one thing to not try to write ratings bait anymore, which has been the prime motivator for this resurgence. It's another thing to fill up an episode with Jerry Lewis impressions and David Hume name-checking, neither of which is exactly catnip to the younger demo.

Much fun was had with the Taylor storyline -- "Ryan, even if I was that limber, you know I would never do it in the Chunnel" is an early candidate for Line of the Seas0n -- and it was nice to see Henri Lubatti not plotting to kill thousands of people (or performing "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo"), even if his smarmy Frenchman did bear a strong resemblance to Henri from "Cheers." I've had to force myself to stop saying "Je pense!" at random moments as well.

Liked the brief visit to Seattle Grace, complete with "Grey's"-y music, particularly Dr. Roberts summing up the themes of the unicorn case the way Meredith's stupid voiceover usually does. Summer's quick descent into Newpsie-hood was as unrealistic as the idea that "Je Pense" would come to Newport to tape an episode, but Rachel Bilson gives good drunken airhead, and Che continues to be used just right.

Don't care about the Muppet Babies stuff, and I feel like they've gone to the "Summer doesn't know who she is" at least a couple of times already this season alone, but overall, quite fun.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

The smartest guys in the room

Another official blog posting: David Milch on "Deadwood," drug use and string theory.

Meanwhile, I tagged along with Maureen Ryan to have lunch with Ken Levine, writer/producer on what seems like most of my favorite comedies ever ("Cheers," "Frasier," "MASH," "The Simpsons" and more) and author of the terrific By Ken Levine blog. (You may remember my link to his If Aaron Sorkin wrote a show about baseball entry back in September.) It was an off-the-record, friendly lunch with Ken and his wife, so I won't share any of the war stories he told, but he has no problems being candid about past work experiences over at his blog. Check it out if you haven't already. The man knows funny. Click here to read the full post

Dick loves HBO

The latest official blog entry: Dick Wolf thinks broadcast network execs should intern at HBO.

Also, I'm curious: do the allegedly entry-specific links take you to the entry in question, or just to the most recent entry? Just as a test, can someone tell me where clicking on this link to the Sarah Silverman entry takes them? Click here to read the full post

Earl & 30 Rock: My name is Glurg

Spoilers for, in order, "My Name Is Earl" and "30 Rock" just as soon as I submit my application to the Ho Chi Minh School of Medicine...

Wow, the "My Name Is Earl" writers have just blown up the formula, haven't they? And I couldn't possibly be more pleased. They're on a great run right now, with the Mexico trip, last week's "COPS" visit, and now the "My Name Is Randy/Joy/Crabman/June Cleaver" perspective-shifter. (Best fake credits, by far: Crabman. I remember his love of cheese, but is him being a cello virtuoso new information?) It almost makes the first season feel worth it because it layed the groundwork for all these unconventional episodes.

The "Rur Jur" returns on "30 Rock," and it's still funny. (In particular, I liked Frank trying to make sense of that "View" interview and complaining, "I feel like I'm getting further away from it.") The Meat Machine story turned into a rip-off of The Cornballer at the end, but Dr. Spuh-che-men is quickly becoming an indispensible recurring character, so I won't complain too much.

Best scenes: Jack being schmoopy on the phone with Maureen Dowd (and is this in any way a dig at Aaron Sorkin, or just a dig at Maureen Dowd?), Jack explaining the GE corporate flowchart (a wig company "owns NBC outright"?), Dougie the prop guy harassing Kenneth with a fake bass, the Rashomon approach to the Liz/Jenna flashbacks (particularly Liz's boyfriend), and Dratch's Barbara Walters, which I liked much better than anytime she did it on "SNL."

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

The Office: Duets

Spoilers for "The Office" just as soon as I ask my friend Long Tim to help straighten up my offive...

What a perfectly-constructed little episode. They've done funnier episodes than this one ("The Injury" and "Conflict Resolution," to name two), but the design of this one played out so well.

With the exception of Jim and Dwight, the sales teams paired up characters who haven't had much to do together in the past, and even with those first two, we got to see them in a new way: well-oiled selling machine. But what I especially loved was the falling-domino quality of the sales calls, how great the payoffs were to set-ups that I didn't even recognize as set-ups. I just assumed that Phyllis was trying to bond with Karen in an unfortunate way, that Happy Stanley made an appearance because Ryan was going to be doing all the work for him, that Dwight was being angry and random because he was stuck working with Jim. In taking notes on the episode, there were a bunch of lines that began with, "Ohhhh!" as I realized what was actually happening.

There were a few more serious developments. Dwight quits Dunder-Mifflin, in a sequence evoking his resignation as a volunteer deputy. Not sure how I feel about that one. If Pam didn't know all of the details of what Dwight did, she knew enough to be able to go to Michael and assure him that Dwight's New York trip had nothing to do with him. Plus, while I totally believe that Dwight would never reveal their secret love without Angela's permission, is Angela really so awful that she would cost Dwight his job to avoid becoming the next Ryan and Kelly? Okay, so maybe she is. I'm sure Dwight will wind up back at work soon -- and that Angela will unleash some kind of Biblical vengeance upon Andy -- but this was unsettling.

Meanwhile, Phyllis goes and outs the history of Jim and Pam to Karen -- and, worse, Jim tries to deny it. He gave it up pretty quickly once he realized she knew something, but that's still not a good sign for this relationship. Or maybe not. I need a ruling: if you're the Karen in this scenario, do you want to know this stuff? And if you're the Jim, are you trying to keep it a secret because you're still in love with Pam, or because you're trying to spare both women some awkwardness over a situation that no longer exists? I'm too jet-lagged to untie this particular knot.

Some lines/jokes of the week:

• Ryan on Stanley: "I'm very flattered. I was his second choice after 'Pass.'"
• Jim: "Oh, Young Jim... there's just so much I need to warn you about, and yet... I cannot."
• Pam to Angela: "You seem so happy. I bet you wish you were like this all the time."
• Jan on Dwight: "Where he was asked to state his business, he wrote, "Beeswax, None of Yours, Incorporated.'"
• Dwight and Michael: "That's what she said." "Don't you dare!"
• Andy: "Oompa-loompa, doopity-dawsome! Dwight is gone, which is totally awesome!"
• Michael's computer: "Boobs!"

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Scrubs: The wrath of Dudemeister

Spoilers for "Scrubs" just as soon as I figure out why Ted has an evil twin who shops at The Gap...

Phew. The show's been in a slump since it came back after Thanksgiving, but between this episode and the musical (which I watched before I left for press tour), I feel like they haven't lost it just yet.

In particular, I laughed a long time at jokes involving two very, very different body types: the two sequences with J.D. and Shirtless Keith (well, one was Partly-Shirtless Keith), and Monstrous Jordan storming down the hallway to "Isn't She Lovely?" Keith's been a very good addition who I'd like to see more of (except, of course, that the show already has too many characters), and Christa Miller deserves some bravery points for her stuff. (Not so much for showing her pregnancy weight, but for the complete lack of grooming.)

Twice this season, they've taken an uber-heavy topic and turned it into a running gag, first abortion, now post-partum depression. I think this one worked better than J.D. and Kim's abortion debate, mainly because Turk recognized it quickly and spent the episode trying to fix it. (The lactation consultants, for instance, were played straight, which made it easier to go with the jokes in those scenes.) Also, Turk danced again, and I think I've long since established how I feel about that.

Not a perfect episode (Cox and The Janitor have had better shared moments), but still a big improvement.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

'Stache men

Latest tour blog entry: secrets of the "Reno 911" mustaches (plus a small bit of info about that "State" reunion in the "Reno" movie). Click here to read the full post

24: "TELL ME WHY I FEEL SAD!!!!!!!"

"24" review in today's column:

"I don't know how to do this anymore."

With these eight words, "24" -- that gorgeous, messy, fist-pumping carnival of post-9/11 anxiety -- gives us its most terrifying scenario yet: Jack Bauer, broken man.

Sure, this is a show where a nuke has gone off on the outskirts of LA, where one president was assassinated and another turned traitor, where deadly viral agents have penetrated malls and hotels, where Elisha Cuthbert's acting ability entered a life-or-death struggle with a cougar (a cougar, people!). But through it all, we knew Jack Bauer would be there to either save the day or avenge the fallen, most likely while putting unnecessary strain on his vocal cords.

As season six begins, that Jack's gone. He's liberated from nearly two years of torture in a Chinese prison -- karmic justice for a guy who never saw a leg he couldn't shoot or stab? -- an unkempt ghost of his former self.

Even after the POW hair and beard get clippered away and Jack starts capping bad guys, he's entirely on auto-pilot. Give him a minute to breathe or think -- of which there are surprisingly many early on -- and he starts to doubt himself. By the end of the now traditional two-night, four-hour season launch, he's reduced to sobbing longer, louder and harder than he did back when his wife was murdered in season one.

To read the full thing, click here. Click here to read the full post

The man with two blogs

The official press tour blog is up, with two entries so far: the traditional (and largely cut-and-pasted) introduction to press tour, and a slightly expanded account of the Sarah Silverman thing. Click here to read the full post

I've only been at press tour for, like, 20 minutes...

...and someone has already told me to STFU. Sure, it was Sara Silverman, and I was kind of asking for it (my question was an admittedly anal nitpicky, Comic Book Guy-style question about a plot hole in the pilot of her new Comedy Central show), but still -- it's nice to feel welcome.

The official tour blog is a little buggy right now, by the way. Click here to read the full post

Friday Night Lights: Blondes have more angst

I leave for the airport shortly, so some quick thoughts on "Friday Night Lights" before I go...

Definitely not one of my favorite episodes. In its best moments, "FNL" feels almost documentary-like in its authenticity, which is why I get uncomfortable when it starts acting like Just Another High School Drama, and the Saracen and Tyra stories both fell into the latter category.

A shrieking Tyra chasing her mom's abusive (and, compared to Tyra, tiny) boyfriend around the house with a poker? Would have been a great moment if we'd seen any of this dynamic before. Instead, Tyra's been the show's forgotten character (Landry gets more respect), popping up on occasion to snap at Lyla or Riggins, then walk off as someone comments on how long her legs are. So all the stuff with her mom (whose every appearance made me want to say, "Can I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo") was far too rushed to have any real impact.

Saracen's story, meanwhile, ended far too easily. A week ago we saw Matt so far at the end of his rope that he can't even see the rope, and now he's just hunky-dory sending his dad back to Iraq? They tried to sell us on the idea that nothing had changed, workload-wise, but again, they rushed the job too much for it to work. As with Tyra, this would have played out better over several more episodes. (Also, isn't Matt just the littlest bit concerned about his dad dying? I know Harry's not working in combat, but engineers are getting killed over there, too.)

Outside of the "Waverlash" joke (somebody on the writing staff hangs around message boards), Smash's subplot wasn't too special, either, with his big speech another "Hi. You're watching a fresh episode on the CW" moment. Really, if it wasn't for the Street story and the usual slice of Taylor domesticity, I would have written the episode off as a total loss.

What did everybody else think? See you all when I get to LA. Click here to read the full post

Sanitized Sopranos

Today's column looks at the vaguely cleaned-up A&E version of "The Sopranos," which, not surprisingly, I'm not happy with:

Christopher Moltisanti has had it. He's watched Tony Soprano let Uncle Junior run roughshod over him and his whole crew, found his friend Brendan shot dead by Junior's goons, and Tony doesn't seem willing to fight back. Christopher's at a boiling point, and he's going to use the strongest language possible to describe the situation to Tony:

"Your freakin' uncle's spittin' on your head!"

Welcome to "The Sopranos" on A&E, where the Bada-Bing girls dance in their underwear, where Paulie Walnuts uses phrases like "weirdo jerk," where AJ will presumably complain about the lack of freakin' ziti.

It's an awkward, often unintentionally hilarious transition away from the freedom of pay cable, and one that changes the overall meaning of the series.

To read the full thing, click here. Click here to read the full post

HIMYM: Tales from the lobby

Spoilers for "How I Met Your Mother" just as soon as I figure out whether Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy actually have sex in "WarGames"...

Very funny episode, even if the insertion of Barney into the "Dirty Dancing" footage felt a lot funnier when Billy Crystal first did it (close to 15 years ago, and God do I feel old right now). "Falafel" as an "I love you" substitute, Marshall and Lily's semantic debate, Ted and Marshall accidentally giving the suicidal guy reasons to live, Robin's entire reaction to her sister's boyfriend ("You just say things!"), more of Flashback Ted being pathetic, more of Flashback Robin being oddly blonde... good stuff all around.

(I was especially pleased to hear Nada Surf's "Always Love" played over the climax. I love that song. Alex Patsavas, who picks the music for "The O.C.," "Grey's Anatomy" and some other shows, has called it "the perfect pop song" and yet has never found the right place to use it on one of her shows. I don't know if this was the 100% perfect place for it, but I just love hearing the band come in.)

Only one real complaint: it feels like forever since we've seen Future Ted's kids, and this is the episode they get brought back for? At some point, the writers really need to have Son or Daughter complain about how creepy it is for their father to tell them about his sex life.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Mail time

The morning column link: a mailbag dealing with the "My Boys" finale, the future of "Big Day," my continued dislike of "The Class," plus stuff on "Love Monkey" and "Doctor Who."

Also, the Television Critics Association press tour starts today, though I'm not leaving for LA until Thursday morning due to some obligations at home. The bosses and I haven't ironed out yet whether I'll be doing an official tour blog over at NJ.com, but if so, I'll follow the same procedure as last time and do mirror links here to everything I write there.

And being at the tour means my actual TV-watching time will be at a minimum. (Ironic in the same way as Randal Graves' hatred of people but love of gatherings.) In certain instances, I'll have episodes in advance (next Monday's "Heroes" came in today's mail), and I'm going to try to take advantage of Internet streaming when I have the time, but a lot of the show commentary is going to be late, if not pushed back until my return to Jersey. So please be patient. Click here to read the full post

In a VAN DOWN BY THE O.R.!

Spoilers for, in order, "Scrubs," "30 Rock" and "My Name Is Earl" coming right up...

I've already seen an advance copy of the "Scrubs" musical (short version: "Buffy" did it better, but still a lot of fun), so I kept being distracted during "My House" wondering when somebody was gonna sing. Good episode, and a more extended look at the eerie Cox/House parallels that we've all been noticing for a few years now. Frankly, I wish they could have really gone to town on that subplot, but servicing four stories in 20 some odd minutes makes that tough to pull off. (And a question for the many medical minds out there: in the original Orange Guy story in the "House" pilot, it was the carrot juice -- or maybe some kind of carrot-y vitamin, I forget -- that turned the man orange, where here Cox said that would make someone yellow. Who's right?)

Few other random thoughts before moving on to "30 Rock":

• I really wish they had brought Elizabeth Banks in for a different storyline that just let her be funny all the time.
• The Janitor's art (as seen above) rules.
• Hands up, anyone who somehow didn't realize it was Carla crying as soon as Party Doc mentioned it to Cox. They've been subtler.
  
• Hands up, anyone who intends to incorporate "mega-loathe" into everyday speech.
• Dave Foley! Love Dave Foley. Still trying to figure out exactly when this whole Satanic imp look of his started, however. What was he up to between "NewsRadio" and the celebrity poker show?

Now, "30 Rock." Is there any circumstance under which Alec Baldwin doesn't win the supporting actor Emmy? Big name star, satirizing cluelesss Hollywood executives, and screamingly funny all the time. The stress eating. The casual way he delivers lines like "My mother sent me to Vietnam to try to make a man out of me. I was 12." The contempt he puts into phrases like "trawling for seed." The rage behind "YOU CUT POP'S BALLS OFF! AND LEFT HIM IN THE STREET TO DIE!" Amazing.

A good Liz episode, too, and I never get tired of hearing Tina Fey refer to "my junk." Dr. Spacemen returns (and reveals multiple specialties), Tracy casually refers to "sex pooping," and the dubbing on the Jack and Tracy impressions was just obvious enough to actually make them funnier. (The faux-Baldwin sounded like Tom Davis dubing for Bill Murray in "Il Returno De Hercules.")

But the funniest show of the three, by quite a stretch, was "My Name Is Earl." This is why I've been arguing for more of Bad Earl. This right here. And you can tell the writers have wanted to go here, too, because the entire season's been leading up to it, notably his babyishness during the Mexico two-parter. Earl (man and show) gets funnier and oddly more likable the worse he behaves, and the entire episode felt packed with gags that the writing staff had been saving up for the right occasion (the stolen artificial voice box, the photo booth bit, Randy's "I love stealing!"). How do I not remember that Tim Stack (as himself) lives in Camden County? His IMDb entry -- which, at the moment, has 63 acting entries, not 62 -- lists him in an early first season episode. Did I miss it, or did it not address the fact that it was Tim Stack as Tim Stack? I love that guy, and great to see him in the Notch Johnson costume again.

But the highlight -- especially in light of the "Pardon the Interruption" discussion below -- was them recreating the bear/trampoline video that Tony played, like, three times a week for most of 2005.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

The O.C.: You've got chutzpah. I hate chutzpah.

Spoilers for "The O.C." just as soon as I find my spare Torah scrolls...

Cancellation Salve Part 2: A very funny episode, particularly the Seth/Summer story. The bad way to go would have been for them to drag out their ambivalence for weeks, not having them tell anybody how they feel, and get increasingly pissy with each other. Instead, Ryan (not caught up in any major girlfriend drama right now) and Taylor (not a self-involved drama queen) trade notes, quickly rat Seth and Summer out to each other, and the story turns into a much sillier form of dysfunction. Favorite moment: Summer giving the Torah a violent shake after walking out of Taylor's room. (Close second: the Summer/Julie scene.)

The Frank/Ryan reunion plot was fine for the most part, though I'm still at a bit of a loss about how Frank has become so trusted by the Bullet in the six months he's been out of prison. Sorbo's also a little too smooth, particularly in the dinner scene. I get that he's turned his life around in the last eight years, but this felt like they pushed it further than they needed to so the faked illness would seem like a bigger sin. Also, Julie and Frank? No, please.

Willa Holland had to carry the Kaitlyn story, because the Very Special Guest Star (my ignorance of whom definitely puts me on the outer edges of the show's demo) brought absolutely nothing to the table. But it's a measure of my growing affection for the character (and/or Willa) that it still worked. With the end around the corner, all the Muppet Babies stories feel a little pointless, but I suppose we have to have one character still attending school somewhere.

Previews for next week look very promising. What'd everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Loudmouths

I'll get back to the episode reviews shortly, but I wanted to post the morning column link and ask a question about "Pardon the Interruption" for those of you who watch it.

The column deals with the continued lameness of "The Apprentice," plus the debut of MTV's "I'm From Rolling Stone" and the cancellation of "The O.C." A snippet:

New city, same blowhard.

Donald Trump's empire has been largely built on hype and an ability to outmaneuver his creditors, and in an attempt to hide from the rapidly-dwindling numbers for "The Apprentice," he's moved season six to Los Angeles. But the location wasn't the problem. The Donald was.

To read the full thing, click here.

Meanwhile, "PTI": While I usually shudder at the appearance of guest hosts, I've developed a weird fondness for Dan Le Batard since he started regularly subbing for Tony on Tuesdays during football season. His knowledge base is much better than Tony and Wilbon's combined, he doesn't mind playing the clown but can also be very thoughtful, and he and Wilbon have good chemistry.

This week, however, it's been him and Tony, and things have, I think, started to get ugly. I started listening to the "PTI" podcast a few months ago as a time-management solution (makes the commute go faster, gives me a chance to watch other stuff at home), which means I may be missing out on some visual cues, and what I'm interpretingg as ugliness could just be more banter.

Anyway, on Wednesday's show, Tony and Le Batard were already approaching "Around the Horn" volume while discussing Nick Saban's departure from the Dolphins. Then they moved over to the legal problems of so many players on the Bengals, and Dan suggested that in a violent sport like football, you need a few guys on your team who will live on the edge of lawlessness. Tony flipped out, and got so loud and angry that Dan even said, "I'm not in love with your tone right now" (though you could hear crewmembers laughing off-stage), and there was a hostile undercurrent to the rest of the show. Things seemed a little calmer yesterday, but Tony was still yelling a lot more than usual.

So am I misreading this, or is there a feud going on that StatBoy can't moderate? Click here to read the full post

The Office: No shirt, wrong e-mail, big problem

A very funny night of television last night, and I haven't even seen "Earl" yet. I'll get to "Scrubs," "30 Rock" and "The O.C." later this morning, but spoilers for "The Office" just as soon as I get a stray piece of tape out of my friend's hair...

She doesn't know. She doesn't know. Jan has no idea. Genius. Absolute freaking genius.

I think we had all guessed that Jan was on the other end of Michael's Christmas party call, but poor, poor Jan. Not only does she have this unhealthy fixation on Michael, now her stupid therapist is telling her to embrace her self-destructive tendencies. If the guy ever met Michael, he would tell Jan to run far, far away. When Kevin started asking her about her tan and she floated the Arizona line, I thought she was desperately trying to deny her presence in the picture, and that we would see her tear into Michael in private (she can't fire him over this, because that would be sexual harassment), but she doesn't know. I love it.

I also love the speed with which Darryl got that e-mail circulating. Packer got it, like, two seconds after Michael sent it to the wrong address, and Toby got it from nine different people ("including my ex-wife, and we don't talk"). Darryl's never liked Michael, and he's had a particular grudge against him ever since he trashed the warehouse in "Boys and Girls." Revenge is a dish best served topless. Or something.

But for me, the funniest moment of the episode was the capper to what had been shaping up to be the sweetest scene: Dwight comforting a sobbing Pam, acting the most human he has ever, ever been on this show, followed by "So you're PMS'ing pretty bad, right?" Beautiful set-up, perfect pay-off.

A few other thoughts and quotes:

• What was that bit about Darryl's iPod? I thought it might be explained in the deleted scenes on NBC.com, but the only stuff there is about the postcards Michael sends Pam from vacation and Dwight listing all the pranks Jim pulled on him in the last week.
  
• Speaking of which, nice teaser with Jim running the sales meeting and totally messing with Dwight's tape recorder. Hell, even Phyllis got involved before Andy had to go and ruin it. However, it feels a little off for Jim -- who keeps vowing that he's going to stay away from old patterns, even though he backslides -- to be so openly mocking of Dwight while running the office. Funny, though.
• Did anyone else feel like Michael's sad shuffle to his office to confront Jan needed to be accompanied by the Charlie Brown music?
  
• Hannah the new mom quit over Christmas break, which leaves Karen and Andy (and, technically, Jim) as the only Stamford people left.
  
• "That's all I'm gonna say... sex... sex... we had sex... I had sex with her..."
• Pam's always so good at quietly undercutting Michael's foolishness, in this case with her line about Jamaica being an impoverished country.
• Why does Kevin get to keep the poster?
  

So what did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Friday Night Lights: Why Timmy can read

"Friday Night Lights" spoilers coming up just as soon as I figure out what to name my Jewish speed metal band...

Ah, so good to have it back, and especially on a night when I was feeling down about the end of "The O.C." Sure, "FNL" isn't likely to make it to next season, but on a night when I was mourning one intelligent teen drama, it was nice to have another to turn to.

First things first: I'm going to figure out a way to work "I'm crippled, and I want to listen to Nirvana!" -- or other variants, like, "I'm crippled, and I want to eat some fro-yo!" or "I'm crippled, and I want to watch Rocky III!" -- into everyday conversation. "This place is not well-built!" has joined "Is that something you might be interested in?" in my conversational dustbin, and this seems a good replacement.

Liked the montage of Street getting ready in the morning; it reminded me of a similar bit on "Ed" where we saw Eli get dressed. (Though, of course, Chill Mitchell is really paralyzed, where Scott Porter could go run track tomorrow if he wanted.) I have to assume that the "dirty, dirty, dirty quad porn" video was the reason for the vague parental advisory at the start of the episode, and I'm happy the show is dealing more with the realities of Jason's situation, even if the discussion is yet another "Murderball" lift. (The actor who plays Herc is a little too hammy, but his comment about Street's unit looking out for him by going limp was almost as funny as the Nirvana line.)

Riggins and Landry as new BFFs felt more TV-ish than the show usually gets, the sort of thing done not because it feels organic but because two underused characters need something to do. (Speaking of which, what the hell was that preview with Tyra for next week? Until I freeze-framed it, I thought that her abusive dad was Coach Taylor and the woman being abused was Tami. Very weird.) Still, both Crucifictorius and the stigmata-themed band names were hilarious, and I like Landry, so I'll deal.

(Another Riggins question: did I hear Tami right that he's taking the same class as Julie? Isn't Rigg a senior like Street, and Julie a sophomore, maybe a junior at most? Not that it's going to be an issue unless last night's ratings were a huge leap up, but I wonder how the show would have dealt with Tim, Jason and Lyla leaving school after the first season.)

How in the world is the show going to contrive to keep Coach from taking the U of Texas QB coach job? Better pay, bigger stage, not all of the pressure is on him, etc. On the other hand, since Mack Brown has already played a Dillon booster back in the pilot, will they have to cast someone else to play him? Or will he slip in some line about having an identical cousin who lives in Dillon?

The meat of the episode was obviously the non-triumphant return of Pa Saracen. Even with the long shot the director used on Tim hugging his dad, you could see the relief overwhelming him, the mistaken belief that his father was going to save him from this hell he had been living in. Turns out daddy just made things worse. His family is absolutely falling apart, his son is being asked to do things no 16 year old should have to if he has a father in the picture, and he doesn't want to come home? No. I'm sorry. No. I understand believing in a cause and the idea of finishing a job you started, but these are extraordinary circumstances.

So, does Taylor take in Matt? And, if so, is that the contrivance that keeps him from making the leap to college? Click here to read the full post

End of The O.C.: Try the veal?

Press release excerpts from Fox:

The sun will set for the last time on THE O.C. when the series ends its four-season run Thursday, Feb. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The countdown has begun, with all-original episodes airing from Thursday, Jan. 4 through the last episode on Feb. 22.

"THE O.C. Season Four finale will also be the series finale. This feels like the best time to bring the show to its close,” said Josh Schwartz, creator and executive producer of THE O.C. “Thanks to the hard work of our cast, crew and writers, we have enjoyed our best season yet, and what better time to go out than creatively on top. It has been an amazing experience and a great run. For a certain audience, at a certain time, THE O.C. has meant something. For that we are grateful."

Not a shock, and if I'm doing the math right, all 16 episodes will have aired by Feb. 22. Josh was always a "Seinfeld" fan, so I suppose there's some (very) small satisfaction in knowing he's going out on a high note.

UPDATE: Just heard from Josh, who wanted to add this:

Part of my quote from the press release that didn't make the cut was "There has been some speculation about a Season 5 on another network but this feels like the best time to bring the story to an end". I felt better to go out now with the run we're having then try and move the show, etc etc. and maybe not be able to deliver the same level of quality. Teen dramas have a shelf life. We've had a lot of parties on the show, and so I've learned, best not to stay too late.

The ending will be fun and bring real closure to the series.

Click here to read the full post